Excelsior fatal stabbing suspect held on $5 million bail

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A 20-year-old man with a history of mental illness was ordered held on $5 million bail Tuesday in connection with the Oct. 12 fatal stabbing
of Excelsior District resident Eric Buschman.

Buschman, 49, was stabbed at about 7:40 p.m. while he and a friend unloaded his truck outside his home in the 300 block of Athens Street, after returning from a camping trip to Lake Shasta.

Charlie Fonilloa Sekona, who lives less than five blocks away from the victim and has schizophrenia, was arrested Thursday for Buschman's killing.

Investigators have not determined a motive for the attack, and do not believe Sekona knew Buschman.

Sekona was scheduled to be arraigned in San Francisco Superior Court this morning on one count of murder with a use-of-a-deadly-weapon allegation, but Judge Loretta Giorgi indicated that the private attorney Sekona's family has hired would not be available until Wednesday.

Giorgi asked Sekona if he agreed to postpone his arraignment until 9 a.m. Wednesday.

"Nine o'clock in the morning?" Sekona asked. The judge told him yes.

"Will I be released tomorrow?" he asked.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow," Giorgi said.

Prosecutor Linda Allen requested bail be set at $5 million, and Giorgi agreed to the amount, subject to a motion by Sekona's attorney, if
requested.

Sekona is under psychiatric observation at the county jail, according to the Sheriff's Department.

District attorney's office spokesman Brian Buckelew said Sekona fit witness descriptions of the stabbing suspect, and is believed to have
gotten off a San Francisco Municipal Railway bus 20 to 30 feet from the scene of the stabbing.

Sekona was identified as being on the bus through Muni surveillance video, and left the bus moments before a 911 call by a witness
reporting the stabbing, Buckelew said.

Sekona had previously been charged with misdemeanor theft in 2008 and with misdemeanor battery, for the alleged beating of a Costco employee, in March of this year, police reports show.

Sekona's father told police that his son has a history of psychiatric problems and was diagnosed with schizophrenia.